Destiny Calls
by EchoAngel
Summary: Phoebe tries to save Cole's soul from the Source. Warning, a few season four spoilers.


Authoress's Notes: First off, this is going to be fairly depressing and a tearjerker. So if you don't have any kleenex handy or just don't want to get upset if you're one of those people who is easily moved by a story (and it's okay, I'm one, too), then don't continue. Also, there are some spoilers in here for season four, so if you don't want to spoil it for yourself, then close this window now. You've been warned!!  
  
This is based on an idea someone posted on http://www.charmed-boards.com. I'm a a member there, and it's great. You really should register if you haven't already. I really can't remember who this person was, but if you're out there reading this, well, I probably haven't done your idea justice, I just took it and started hacking out dialouge during Global History one day. I knew those hour long lectures would be good for something.  
  
This story picks up in the middle of the action because I had no idea how to write the first part. The background information at the bottom of this page is so that you can understand what went on before the first written scene.  
  
Disclaimer: Phoebe Halliwell, Cole Turner, and all other characters you've seen on the WB do not belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for the use of this story and I promise to return them to the WB in one piece when I'm done. If they need counseling by the time the story is through, though, don't blame me!! The demons Tasso and Kora are the products of my own demented little mind.  
  
Dedication: This is dedicated to all of the actors on Charmed, especially Julian McMahon and Alyssa Milano, for inspiring me to write this. Also to the person who originally had the idea used in this fic...as I said, I don't remember your name, sorry!! But thanks!!  
  
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Background Information: Piper, Phoebe, and Paige were captured by the Source, who took them to a jail cell, if you will, in the Underworld. Cole made a deal with the Source to get his powers back so he can attempt to save them, in exchange for his mortal soul. The Source agrees to the terms of this deal and grants Cole his powers back. Cole evades the demons on his trail and frees the girls, but doesn't tell Phoebe what he's done to save her. However, he does tell Leo, who wants him to tell Phoebe before it's too late.  
  
Phoebe has just had a premonition about a powerful demon called Tasso attacking and the girls have drawn up a battle plan. Phoebe and Cole will stay at the Manor to fight Tasso if he attempts to steal the Book Of Shadows, while Piper and Paige will go out to hunt the demon down. Cole wants to tell Phoebe his secret in case he doesn't make it out of this one alive......  
  
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Well, that's everything you need to know before you start reading, and damn that is way too long!! Sorry!!  
  
Okay, the story starts on the next page. Can you handle it??  
  
~ * ~  
  
As Leo orbs out with Piper and Paige, Cole turns to Phoebe and takes a deep breath.  
  
Cole: Phoebe, there's...something I need to tell you.  
  
She takes his hand and smiles sweetly.  
  
Phoebe: What? (He is silent) What is it?  
  
Leo orbs back in.  
  
Cole: It's.....never mind.  
  
Phoebe: No, Cole I......  
  
Leo: If you won't tell her, then I will.  
  
Cole: Leo, stay out of this!  
  
Leo: She has the right to know.  
  
Phoebe: The right to know what?  
  
Leo: He sold his soul to the Source, Phoebe, to get his powers back. When you and Piper and Paige were captured.  
  
Cole glares at Leo. Phoebe looks between the two men in disbelief before pulling Cole to one side.  
  
Phoebe: You what? Why?  
  
Cole: I had to, it was the only way to save you.  
  
Phoebe: But what about you? What if something happens to you?  
  
Cole: That doesn't matter.  
  
Phoebe: (whispers) It matters to me.  
  
A tear runs down her face as she struggles to come to terms with what he has given up for her. Cole puts a hand to her face and gently wipes the tear away.  
  
A whirling dark cloud appears in the center of the room.......  
  
Phoebe and Cole turn towards the dark cloud that has appeared in the center of the room. As the smoke clears, we see the demon Tasso, who is in his human form at the moment. He looks a lot like Leonardo DiCaprio, except for his eyes are red. Bloodred.  
  
He instantly fires an energy ball at Leo, who vanishes in a spray of orbs before reappearing unconscious at the other side of the room, at the bottom of the stairs. Tasso turns to the couple with murder in his inhuman eyes.  
  
Tasso: Well, well, well. We meet again, Belthazor. Only this time you won't be so lucky, and neither will your witch.  
  
Phoebe: My advice? If you don't like witches, don't mess with a Charmed One!  
  
Cole fires off an energy ball at Tasso, who deflects it using one of his own. Tasso instantly fires off with another one at Cole, who shimmers to avoid it. He shimmers back in as Tasso, undaunted, throws yet another blast, this time aimed at Phoebe. She levitates over the supernatural weapon and, without landing, tries to kick Tasso. He grabs her foot and roughly twists it, sending her flying to hit the floor.  
  
Cole, furious, lashes out at Tasso, but the other demon, seemingly unfazed by every defense so far, once again deflects the blow before turning his attention towards Phoebe, who is on the floor trying to regain her feet. Tasso raises his hand and a dagger materializes in it, a malicious smile on his face. He stands over Phoebe, the dagger raised....  
  
Cole: Phoebe!  
  
As Tasso brings the weapon downward, Cole flings himself between the other demon and Phoebe, protecting her his only thought. Tasso's dagger is thrust into his stomach, a mortal wound.  
  
Phoebe: (screams) No!!!!  
  
Phoebe drops down onto the floor and cradles his head in her lap as Tasso laughs evilly. She looks up at him with tears brimming in her angry eyes, and begins to chant a vanquishing spell.  
  
Phoebe: Powers of light, magic of right,  
  
let good triumph in this fight.  
  
This cruel creature of evil born  
  
with these words shall face the fire's scorn.  
  
Tasso screams as he bursts into flames and dies. Phoebe tearfully turns her attention back to her lover as he lies dying in her arms, painfully gasping for breath.  
  
Phoebe: Oh God, no. Stay with me, don't do this to me!  
  
Cole: I love you.  
  
Phoebe: (hysterical) Don't! Don't start saying your goodbyes, not yet. Not yet!! We're supposed to have a life together. (whispers) Don't you dare die on me, Cole.  
  
Cole smiles painfully and reaches up to stroke her cheek. She takes his hand and holds it to her face.  
  
Cole: If I got the chance to do it all over again, I'd make the same choice. For you to be safe...it's all worth it.  
  
Phoebe: But it doesn't mean anything without you! How am I supposed to live without you?  
  
Cole: You have to.  
  
Phoebe: (whispers) I can't.  
  
Cole: Yes, you can. For me, please? No matter what, I'll always love you.  
  
Phoebe: I love you too, God I love you....  
  
She embraces him, sobbing violently.  
  
Scene: A shadowy alley. Piper and Paige stand there, looking about nervously. Paige suddenly tenses and looks about.  
  
Piper: What?  
  
Paige: I...I don't know. I've just all of a sudden got this feeling.....  
  
Piper: Don't even think about saying we have to go back to the Manor. We have to stay here and wait for the demon.  
  
Paige: But what if something's wrong?  
  
Piper: (exasperated) Even so, how do we get back?  
  
Paige: I can try to orb us.  
  
Piper: But you haven't figured out how to use that much power yet.  
  
Paige: Well, I can sure as hell try! Come on, we can always, I don't know, put Tasso on next weekend's vanquish list.  
  
Piper: Funny. Very funny.  
  
Nonetheless, she takes Paige's hand. Paige closes her eyes and scrunches up her face in concentration. After a moment of this, Piper starts to roll her eyes, but is cut off as they orb out.  
  
Cut to: The Manor, as Piper and Paige orb in at the top of the stairs. Paige releases Piper's hands and claps her hands in delight, like a kid who's just seen the high wire act at the circus.  
  
Paige: I did it!!  
  
Piper looks down the stairs and sees Leo, still unconscious. She cries out his name and rushes to him. Paige follows, and glimpses the heartbreaking scene in the next room. Phoebe holds Cole's body close to her as she continues to sob, clinging to him desperately.  
  
Paige: (whispers) Oh, my God.....  
  
Piper looks up and sees what Paige is looking at. Her face pales as they both watch their sister cry.  
  
Fade out to a cemetery. Phoebe is standing in the pouring rain looking down at a gravestone marked with Cole's name. Her face is sad, but her eyes show untold determination.  
  
Phoebe: I'll get you back, Cole...I swear it.  
  
She slowly turns and walks away. The camera pulls back to reveal her image in a crystal ball. The Source and The Oracle are looking into it.  
  
Source: We shall see about that.  
  
You hear sounds of Cole screaming in pain in the background. There is an abrupt cut to black. Fade in in Heaven. There are gauzy white clouds and mist everywhere. The Elders are seated in a circle. There are five of them.  
  
Elder #1: It is happening.  
  
Elder #4: As it was forseen.  
  
Cut back down through the clouds to Phoebe opening the car door. She gets behind the wheel and turns the car on. The radio comes on, and the song "For You I Will" by Brandy starts playing. As she listens, tears well up in her eyes and begin falling down her face. She hides her face in her hands as she begins to sob.  
  
Scene: The attic at night. The camera pans the dark and lonely room, and the sound of Phoebe's voice is heard. In the light of a single candle, her eyes are bloodshot. She's determinded, almost obsessed, as she chants a spell.  
  
Phoebe: Hear these words, hear my cry,  
  
spirit from the other side,  
  
come to me, I summon thee,  
  
cross now the great divide.  
  
She looks up and around the room, but there is no response, or any sign that she has been heard. Pushing her hair back in frustration, she flips through the pages until she finds the spell to call a lost witch. Taking a piece of paper from the notebook on the table, she modifies it to suit her purpose and reads.  
  
Phoebe: Power of the lovers rise,  
  
course unseen across the skies,  
  
come to us who call you here,  
  
come to us and settle here  
  
Heart to heart, I summon thee,  
  
heart to heart, return to me.  
  
The candle flickers, but there is absolute silence in the room. Tears brim in her eyes, but she furiously swipes them away and flips through the Book's pages once more.  
  
Scene: The next day, in Paige's room. She stands on a chair while she looks for something on the top shelf of her closet.  
  
Paige: I know that it was up here somewhere.....oh, damnit.  
  
As she withdraws, her hand strikes something on the back corner of the shelf. Curious, she reaches for it and pulls out a cardboard shoebox. She sits crosslegged on the floor and opens the box  
  
Inside are several photographs. Paige's face takes on a confused expression before realizing that these must be some of Prue's things that weren't found when she was moving in. She flips through a stack of various pictures; among them are one of the original three Halliwell sisters, one of Grams and Patty, one of Kit, and a picture of a young Piper in pigtails and braces, which Paige giggles as she sees.  
  
She stops at the last picture, which is of a teenaged Prue and Andy. They both look so happy. She frowns in concentration as she wonders about the sister she never knew.  
  
Paige: (whispers) So who the hell were you, Prue?  
  
Scene: The Underworld, in the Source's chamber. The Source is there, obviously. A slim figure clad in a black robe enters the chamber. The figure kneels before the Source and removes the hood, revealing a young woman who, althought beautiful, possesses an aura of danger. Her name is Kora.  
  
Kora: You summoned me?  
  
Source: The others have all failed, Kora.  
  
Kora: I won't.  
  
Source: And what makes you think that you will be the one to bring down the Charmed Ones?  
  
Kora: I have......my reasons, if you will. And Belthazor's soul is still trapped, hmm?  
  
Source: That is not your concern.  
  
Kora: Very well, then. Don't you worry about the witches. You just leave them to me.  
  
Scene: The Manor. Piper is seated in the sunroom with a book. Phoebe walks in.  
  
Phoebe: Piper, are we out of candles?  
  
Piper: I think so. Why?  
  
Phoebe: Damnit.  
  
She turns around and heads for the door. Piper sighs, gets up, and follows her.  
  
Piper: Why the sudden need for candles?  
  
Phoebe: I....have a spell that I need to try.  
  
Piper: Another one? Sweetie, you're exhausting yourself.  
  
Phoebe: Well you did the same when we lost Prue.  
  
Piper: That was different.  
  
Phoebe: How? (Piper is silent) Leo didn't tell you, did he? He didn't tell you what Cole did.  
  
Piper: Leo didn't tell me what?  
  
Phoebe: Piper, he gave up his soul to the Source to get his powers back.  
  
Piper: What? When did that happen?  
  
Phoebe: When we were captured and he saved us. He gave up everything for us. You and Prue and even Paige may have had your doubts about him, but he is a good man. And I love him, and I'm getting him back.  
  
Piper: How?  
  
Phoebe looks at the floor and bites her lip.  
  
Phoebe: I don't know yet.  
  
She opens the front door and walks out.  
  
Scene: The kitchen. Paige is seated at the table, looking at the pictures of Prue. She is so concentrated that she doesn't notice Leo orbing in behind her.  
  
Leo: Hi.  
  
Paige: Aah!  
  
She jumps, startled, and falls off the chair. She sits on the floor for a moment, shaking her head in self-exasperation.  
  
Paige: Sometimes I just amaze myself.  
  
She scrambles to her feet before Leo can help her up. Leo notices the pictures that have fallen to the floor and bends to pick them up.  
  
Leo: What's this.?  
  
Paige: Nothing.  
  
She makes a grab for the pictures. Leo lets her take them and looks at her in confusion.  
  
Leo: What were you doing with those?  
  
Paige: Nothing, just looking at them. I found them in the closet.  
  
Leo: Oh.  
  
He sits at the table as if waiting for Paige to say something. She stares off into space for a moment before begining to question him.  
  
Paige: What was she like, Leo? Prue, I mean.  
  
Leo: Why'd you ask?  
  
Paige: (defensive) Hey, she was my sister too, even if I never exactly met her. Isn't it natural to be curious?  
  
Leo: She was a lot like you, actually.  
  
Paige: Really?  
  
Leo: Yeah, in the sense that you're both stubborn and don't give up on anything easily. You're more laid back than she was, though.  
  
Paige: Go on.  
  
Leo: She was a fighter. Once she got it into her head to do something, she'd do it, or at the very least try her best. I think that's another way you two are alike. Let's see, she was.....  
  
Paige: She was a photographer, right? (Leo gives her a strange look) I read the obituary.  
  
Leo: Yeah, she was a photographer, and a pretty good one, too.  
  
Paige: It seems like she was pretty good at everything.  
  
Leo: No one is good at everything.  
  
Paige: Yeah but even if she wasn't, it feels like I have to be for them to accept me! Or at least for Piper to. I can tell she still thinks I'm a screw up.  
  
Leo: No she doesn't.  
  
Paige: I'll never be as good as Prue.  
  
Leo: No one expects you to take her place.  
  
Paige: Well, I've got to work something out, because I am so sick of being on the outside looking in all the time.  
  
Scene: Phoebe's bedroom. She is sitting on her bed with a notebook and a pen, writing. Every few moments, she stops to read back what she has written, constantly making changes to the words.  
  
Scene: Paige is down in the basement, studying the punching bag hanging there. After a moment, she begins walking around it in circles.  
  
Paige: Hey, big scary demon. You want a piece of me? Do you?! Well, you're gonna be sorry you messed with Paige Matthews!  
  
Paige kicks the punching bag with all the force she can muster. It swings backwards, but then bounces right back and hits her. Not expectung this little setback, she's knocked to the ground.  
  
Paige: Owww. Okay. Back to the drawing board.  
  
Cut to Phoebe in her room. She tears the piece of paper out of the notebook and stands up. After taking a moment to look around the room, she begins to chant softly.  
  
Phoebe: I'll take your hand in mine,  
  
our souls forever intertwined,  
  
I summon myself to your side,  
  
from ourselves we will not hide.  
  
White glowing lights surround her and she vanishes.  
  
Scene: The kitchen. Piper, her hands on her hips, stands between Paige and the kitchen counter.  
  
Paige: Come on.  
  
Piper: No.  
  
Paige: I just want a little taste!  
  
Piper: Touch the cookie and die!  
  
Paige rolls her eyes as Piper turns back to her cooking, then grins mischeivously. She holds out one hand and telekinetically orbs a cookie to her. Piper sees the cookie vanish and spins around. Paige waves and orbs out. Piper glares at the spot where Paige was standing.  
  
Piper: If I could freeze her, I would. Often.  
  
Leo orbs in.  
  
Leo: Hey.  
  
Piper: Hi.  
  
She goes over to him and they kiss.  
  
Leo: Where's Paige?  
  
Piper: Stuffing her face.  
  
Leo: Where's Phoebe?  
  
Piper: Upstairs. (sighs) I'm really worried about her, Leo. All she does is keep trying to find a way to get him back. She hardly ever eats or sleeps. She's exhausting herself.  
  
Leo: And what do you think we should do?  
  
Piper: I don't know! I mean, there aren't even the usual words of wisdom about how now he's in a better place. And it's not like she's going to stop trying.  
  
Leo: Would you?  
  
Piper: No, never.  
  
They share a meaningful look as Paige walks into the kitchen. Piper turns to her.  
  
Piper: I hope you enjoyed that cookie, because you're going to pay you little theif!  
  
Paige: Yeah, yeah, yeah, kill me later. Have either of you seen Phoebe?  
  
Piper: No. Why?  
  
Paige: I can't find her anywhere.  
  
The three of them look around the kitchen.  
  
Piper: She didn't.  
  
Scene: The Underworld. Phoebe is there, creeping along a dark corridor. You can see both fear and determination in her eyes. Suddenly, a creaking noise is heard from behind her, and she spins around. When she sees that no one is there, she rolls her eyes at herself, and turns back, only to find two demons standing there and blocking her path.  
  
Demon #1: Well well well. What have we here?  
  
Demon #2: You idiot, don't tell me that you can't recognize one of the imfamous Charmed Ones.  
  
Demon #1: Oh, right.  
  
Phoebe stares them down. Neither of the three moves an inch. Suddenly, Demon  
  
#2 lashes out with an energy ball, knocking her across the corridor and into the stone wall. Phoebe hits the wall and then slumps to the ground unconscious. Demon #2 moves in for the kill.  
  
Demon #1: No, let me.  
  
Demon #2: Why?  
  
Demon #1: Killing one of the Charmed Ones is--  
  
Demon #2: You idiot, you didn't even know who she was!  
  
Demon #1: Fine, let's just bring her to the Source for torture.  
  
Demon #2: Fine by me.  
  
They turn back, only to find that Phoebe has vanished. They look about stupidly.  
  
Demon #1: Where'd she go?  
  
Scene: The Manor. Leo orbs in with the unconscious Phoebe. He places her on the couch and heals her. She slowly wakes up.  
  
Phoebe: Ohh, owwww.....(suddenly notices surroundings) What the.....Leo!!!  
  
She scrambles to her feet and looks at him accusingly.  
  
Phoebe: What the hell are you doing?  
  
Leo: You would have been killed. Going down there was dangerous, and you know it.  
  
Phoebe: Yeah, but it was my decision, Leo. I don't need to be watched over like I'm a kid!  
  
Leo: And what if you'd--  
  
Phoebe: Died? Oh, that's right. All the Elders care about are their precious Charmed Ones! Well you can tell them I'm through with that. And you know what? I don't really give a damn if I get killed! Dying trying to save Cole is a hell of a lot better than living without him.  
  
Leo: You don't really mean that.  
  
Phoebe: Don't I? Can you honestly tell me you wouldn't feel the same way if it was Piper's soul trapped down there?  
  
Leo looks away, and there is silence for a long moment.  
  
Phoebe: That's what I thought.  
  
She storms out of the room.  
  
  
  
To be continued..... 


End file.
